Ivanka’s comments on Syrian refugees goes against ‘America First’

During an interview with NBC News reporter Hallie Jackson on Wednesday, First daughter and aide to the president Ivanka Trump signaled that her father’s administration might be open to accepting Syrian refugees.

“I think there is a global humanitarian crisis that’s happening, and we have to come together, and we have to solve it,” Ivanka said.

“Does that include opening the border to Syrian refugees in the U.S.?” Jackson responded.

“That has to be part of the discussion, but that’s not going to be enough in and of itself,” Ivanka continued.

This would be a total about-face for her father’s administration, which had been trying to permanently ban any Syrian refugees from coming into the U.S. However, it’s not the first time that Ivanka has led the way in differing with her father. Some have signaled, including her own brother Eric, that her emotional reaction to the gassing of children in the war-torn country influenced her father to bomb Syria.

It goes without saying that Ivanka is Trump’s closest advisor and the one who above all others has the power to sway his opinion on serious issues. However, it’s not what the “America First” voters supported in the election.

If Trump abandons “America First” for the usual establishment Republican politician’s position of “fight the world/invite the world,” then everything they campaigned for will be lost. We might as well have George W. Bush.

Ivanka is a huge asset to the Trump Administration, especially when it comes to maternity leave and female entrepreneurship. It also doesn’t hurt that she has the highest favorability ratings in the family.

Nonetheless, it appears that she and her husband have usurped more power at the expense of the America First movement. If she is able to change Trump’s mind on refugees like she did on bombing Syria, then the President’s base will move further and further away from him.